outlaw starthe new kid in town
by war star
Summary: Kyle Stuart was a soldier in the United States Army who was drafted into the service under penalty of death. He refuses to kill innocent civilians. The war ends, he is frozen for two centuries. Fred Luo finds him, brings him back from Earth to Sentinel 3


DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor am I affiliated with the creators of Outlaw Star or anyone else at Sunrise Inc., or Bandai. Any similarities between the character known as Kyle Stuart & Colossus of Marvel Comics' X-Men is purely coincidental & purely unintentional. Thankyou very much & enjoy the story. Please comment. All criticism is welcomed.

With Reguards,

Warstar

INTRODUCTION

Planet Earth, the year 2008: Long ago on a remote planet called Earth, a global conflict was being waged for total supremacy over the war-ravaged world. Rival military powers and international corporations worked together to make certain the war would rage on and that the coffers belonging to the very rich and all powerful would remain full to overflowing. This was their living and their livelihood: to kill untold millions of people in order to guarantee the prosperity of merely thousands of people.

People of lower and all but extinct middle class status were drafted into the military to be used as cannon fodder. Among them was a farmer's son named Kyle Stuart. For him and others like him, failure to report to the nearest recruiting station meant death by hanging. Reluctantly, he agreed to their terms. While in the army, he would rise to rank of corporal. The military trained him, educated him, and finally deployed him to a remote region in the northern hemisphere of the planet. There he fought alongside hundreds of thousands from his division until that fateful day he refused to follow orders.

He refused to gun down an innocent family of beleaguered survivors in a far off land that wasn't even his. He expected a swift execution but tragically for him, he was denied. He was taken to a secret bunker hidden in the mountains where obscene and diabolical experiments were conducted on renegade soldiers and innocent civilians alike. The attempt was to create the ultimate soldier for the armies of the elite. These experiments would involve the use of DNA taken from the bodies belonging to a race of supreme extraterrestrial beings now long extinct.

Stuart prayed for death as all others died around him, leaving him isolated and alone. He became the first successful test subject when the war came to an abrupt end. Worldwide populist revolution replaced the corporate fascist military structure. By the time the coup ended, 1.7 of the 6.8 billion on Earth died. The human race then entered into a golden era of enlightenment & prosperity. Global funding went into the research & development of science, technology, space travel, & fully restoring Earth's biosphere to its former glory only a few centuries prior.

The diabolical experiments done on Kyle Stuart were at an end but he wasn't allowed to return to his homeland. He was now considered a threat to humanity. Government officials ordered him frozen in suspended animation indefinitely. . He would remain frozen unless an earthquake destroyed the generators that powered the deep freeze chambers or unless someone deliberately deactivated them. He wouldn't be allowed to partake in the new dawn going on around & above him. If only he knew what awaited him in the future. He would be in for a rude awakening & be awakened to a new sense of ultimate adventure…GO!

CHAPTER ONE: THE PHONE CALL

Locust City, Sentinel III, 2208(Present Day): It is Tuesday morning at Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. Melfina, the bio android and all essential computer link-up for the spacecraft known as the Outlaw Star, is on kitchen duty. She is fixing a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, and pancakes for both Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking, two struggling, jack-of-all- trades entrepreneurs. These two had been out late the night before taking down an outlaw murderer who had a price on his head for twenty thousand wong. He was wanted on three different planets. Jim is sitting in front of his laptop and has just deposited the eighteen thousand wong. He was the last one to go to bed as he had received an important phone call from Hugo City. Apparently their friend and financier, Fred Luo had just come back from Planet Earth representing his father's business affairs there. Besides new business contracts for Earth, Fred managed to pick up a few ancient artifacts in the northern hemisphere region of Siberia dating back to the early 21st century.

"Gene Starwind, get your lazy butt out of bed-NOW!" Jim yelled. He got no answer and needless to say he was very angry. "I'm getting sick and tired of this crap. C'mon Gene! Don't make me come up there!" Gene was a sound sleeper and turned over to the edge of the bed facing the windows. "Breakfast is almost ready, Jim." Melfina said. "Jim, hasn't Gene gotten up yet?" "No he hasn't." Jim replied quite frustrated with his partner's attitude. "But I'm going up there right now to put my foot down on his head." "Jim, please don't do anything foolish!" Melfina pleaded. "Oh I'm not going to do anything foolish." Jim said calmly. "I'm just going to throw Gene's sorry ass out of bed that's all."

Jim then headed upstairs to where Gene's bed was. He was very determined to get Gene out of the bed come hell or high water. He noticed Gene's body was completely over to the edge of the bed facing the window. A cruel, devilish smile then crept across Jim's face. He had a mischievous scheme to get Gene out of bed. Jim quietly tiptoed over to the bed, leaned down, grabbed the bed frame, and hoisted it straight up, all at once, rolling Gene out on the floor with a huge thud. "OW! Hey Jim, you little bunghole, what the hell's your problem?" Gene shouted trying to get to his feet.

We got an important call from Fred Luo last night while you were in bed dreaming sweet dreams, sleeping beauty!" Jim shot back. "Apparently his business ventures on Earth proved to be very successful plus he wants to hire all five crew members of the Outlaw Star to guard something for him, something he brought back with him from Earth" "Did he say what it was?" Gene asked. "No." Jim replied. "But he's pitching out ten million wong-that's two million for each of us to come and safeguard whatever the hell it is he brought back with him. "WHAT?!" Are you serious, Jim? TELL ME!" Gene cried almost taken completely off guard with this news. "HELL YES I'M SERIOUS, GENE!" Jim yelled. "And we've got to get there sometime this afternoon! Fred wants you to call him ASAP too!" "Alright." Gene sighed a little anxious about all this unexpected news. "What the hell did he bring back with him to Sentinel III?" He thought to himself. Gene rushes downstairs, picks up the phone and dials the office of Fred Luo. The phone rings three times straight but no answer yet. C'mon damn it! Pick up!" He whispers loudly to himself. Finally Fred Luo answers the phone. "Well good morning, beautiful dreamer!" Fred said with a quite chirpy voice. "It's so good to see you. Did Jim give you the message to call me last night?" "Sorry. No." Gene cursed. "He told me about it this morning. That Earth artifact must be pretty damn valuable to split up ten million wong among the crew of the Outlaw Star. What the hell have you got stashed out there in Hugo anyway?"

"Ah now, Gene, if I told you once, I've told you a million times that it's bad for business to discuss these things over the phone." Fred stated. "I've already contacted Suzuka and Aisha last night and told them about the arrangements. They said that they would make it before 7 PM." "Well we'll be there around much sooner." Gene boasted. "That Earth find must be very important-huh?" "You have no idea." Fred said in a much more somber tone than usual. "I've said all I can say for the moment. Goodbye Now!" He hung up. "Your breakfast is getting cold, Gene!" Melfina hollered. Melfina and Jim were both nearly finished with their breakfast when Gene finally sat down. "Mmmm! This is really good, Mel!" Gene said. "I'm just glad that Aisha is away on other business so she can't eat the food off our plates."

After breakfast was over and done with, the three crewmembers of the Outlaw Star cleaned up, got packed and got in Jim's car. A Pink Gilliam was in the glove compartment of the care. Gilliam looked out at Jim and said, "We're low on fuel, Jim. We need a full tank to make the trip from Locust to Hugo." "Yes, I know." Jim replied. We're getting the fuel the very next thing before leaving town." "What do you suppose Fred Luo brought back with him from Planet Earth?" Gilliam enquired. "We don't know yet, Gilliam." Melfina replied. "That's what we're going to find out."

The crewmembers filled up Jim's car with hydrogen fuel at the nearest filling station before finally leaving Locust. It was 11:45 AM eastern time. "Well, we're finally on our way!" Gene exclaimed as the drove down the highway leading out of the city. It was a four hour drive from Locust to Hugo. The time was exactly 3:45 PM when they arrived at Fred Luo's huge, stately office complex. "Well we've made it and with precisely three hours and fifteen minutes to spare." Exclaimed Gilliam. "One can only hope that our business venture will be well worth the time and effort." "Two million wong per person, Gilliam?" Jim interrupted. "We'll be on easy street if Fred has another two business assignments with this kind of magnitude!" "Yes and we'll finally be able to make the last payments on our place of business." Gene added. "I was afraid we'd never find a job big enough to help make the final installments on our home."

Jim then parked his car in the vast parking space on the north side of the huge business complex. "Please take me in with you!" Gilliam pleaded. "There's nothing for me to do and I hate being alone out here by myself!" "Okay Gilliam." Jim replied. Jim stuffed the pink, robotic cylinder, Gilliam down in the inside pocket of his jacket and got out of the car. Gene & Melfina got out of the other side of the car. They locked up and went up to the sidewalk on the southwest side of the building. They walked up to six, huge, glass doors on the front of the building and went through, straight on into the lobby. They went up to the front desk where a huge man about six foot five was sitting but then he stood up to greet them. He had short, brown hair and had a ruddy complexion. He wore heavy shades and a black suit and tie and was rather intimidating to the three. "Who are you people? Is Mr. Luo expecting you?" He inquired. "Yes. We're here about the night watchmen positions your boss has hired us for." Gene replied, scratching the back of his head rather nervously.

"Ah yes!" The tall man replied. "Mr. Luo has instructed us to inform him of you arrival. You're here rather early." "Yeah, we wanted to beat the five o'clock traffic." Gene stated. "So did Suzuka and Aisha make it in yet?" No they haven't made it in yet but they…" The bodyguard was interrupted by the commotion going on outside. They could hear the screeching of tires along with a motor running in high gear. "What the hell?" Gene exclaimed. The car came to a stop outside nineteen parking spaces away from Jim's car. "Looks like they made it." Said Jim. "Finally, all cast members are now in place." Gilliam dramatized. Jim, Gene, and Melfina dart outside down to the corner of the building. Two beautiful, young women set foot out of their vehicle. The one on the passenger side was an Asian beauty in a traditional Japanese kimono fastened with a red sash and sheath holding a mystical, wooden sword resting across her back. She had long, black hair and was especially beautiful to look upon. The one on the driver's side was strong, buxom, feline looking woman who possessed great strength and fortitude. She was of a proud and ancient race known as the Ctarl Ctarl.

"AISHA, SUZUKA, OVER HERE!" Jim shouted with great excitement in his voice. The feline femme fatale then rushed over to Jim, picked him up at the waist, and began to spin around in overwhelming affection for the boy. "HEY AISHA! STOP! I'M GETTING SEASICK HERE!" Jim yelled laughing. "Aw, you're no fun." The Ctarl Ctarl pouted almost seductively. "Maybe you'd like to meet someone your own age from among my own people…like my little sister!" "You've got a little sister and you never even told me?" Jim asked a little disappointed. "Well, you never asked." Aisha replied somewhat cocky. "How do you expect to learn anything if you don't ask?"

"Hey Suzuka! Good to see you again." Gene exclaimed. "Likewise I'm sure." Suzuka replied. "How is Starwind and Hawking Enterprises doing these past few months?" "It's actually doing very well." Said Melfina in a very polite manner. "Thank you for asking." "Aisha and I have had our fair share of adventures together for many months now." Suzuka boasted. "However we both felt like those same adventure would prove to be much more interesting with the crew of the Outlaw Star." "You have good taste in company lady." Gene replied. "I guess you and the cat girl are here for the same reason as we are?" "Yes." Suzuka answered. "Fred Luo was kind enough to contact us both last night with the business proposal." "Yes, we were lucky!" Gene cried out. "I almost missed out on it." "You mean we almost missed out on it!" Jim retorted back. "If I hadn't thrown your sorry butt out of bed, we probably wouldn't be here!"

"Okay Jim! That's enough." Gene sighed. "I mean we're here aren't we? Cut me some slack." "Hey Mel! What's shakin,' girl?" Aisha shouted out, picking Melfina up, and twirling around with here frail, dainty figure held close. "WHOA! I'm okay, Aisha and how are you doing?" Melfina cried out being spun around. "Never felt better!" Aisha replied putting a rather dizzy Melfina back down on her feet. "And how have you been doing Jim?" Suzuka enquired. "Same as usual, Suzuka." Jim replied. "Always busy and always trying to keep Gene here in line." Suzuka chuckles at the remark. "I don't envy your position at all Jim." She replies. Jim blushes sort of embarrassed. "Lady, if you only knew what I have to put up with." He says. "Alright Jim! That's enough!" Gene shouts frustrated. "HEY!" Gene nearly screams. "Put me down Aisha! Stop spinning me like that! I have to go to the restroom-seriously!" "Oh no." Aisha gasps dropping Gene on the pavement. "Damn it but you're a persistent little animal." Groans Gene as he picks himself up off the blacktop. "NYAAAH! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO CALL ME AN ANIMAL?!" Aisha screams nearly at the top of her lungs.

Two black limousines drive up out front not too far from where the five friends are standing. The tall bodyguard that was with Gene, Jim, and Melfina hurries out to the first limo and opens the back door on the passenger side. At that moment Fred Luo steps out, looks around somewhat suspiciously, and sees his five, eager business partners. "AW GENE!" Fred shouts with such glee in his soul, running toward the crew. "It is so good that you and your friends could join me on this historical event in Luo Industries!" Fred embraces Gene and holds him much too close for comfort. "Good to see you too Fred." Gene replies frustrated and in some discomfort from the previous encounter with the hyper Ctarl Ctarl. "So when are you gonna let us in on this big secret of yours anyway?" "That's why I brought two limos with me today silly buns." Fred replies. "This is the biggest find of the millennium and I want you all in on it."

"Damn it. You can let go now Fred." Gene sighs still frustrated. "When do we get to see your big find anyway?" "Right now." Fred replies in an unusually somber tone, strange even for him. "Fritz, could you show our guests to their designated coaches?" "Right this way." Fritz, the tall bodyguard calls out to the five friends. "Fritz?" Jim exclaims. "What kind of name is that for a bodyguard?" "Heh, heh, heh, your guesss is as good as mine silly buns!" Joked the fired up Ctarl Ctarl woman. "Aw gimme a break Aisha!" Jim chuckled, his face red in embarrassment. "Right this way." Fritz called out. "Gene, I want you and Jim to ride up front with me." Fred insisted. "In that case I'll ride with Suzuka and Aisha." Jim retorts. "Mel, are you gonna ride with Gene?" "Sure! I guess so." Melfina replies. "Jim C'mon! I was just kidding!" Pleaded Fred. "Sure you were!" Jim answers back in a droll and sarcastic tone. Gene, Melfina, and Fred get into the first limo. Gene looks back at the somewhat anxious twelve year old boy saying "Women will be the death you Jim!" "Up yours!" Jim shouts back somewhat amused by Gene's comment.

Jim follows Aisha and Suzuka into the second limousine and Fritz shuts the door behind him. Jim is sitting across from Aisha and Suzuka. He's a very bright and impressionable boy with genius intellect. It's a wonder that he never even attended college for someone so bright at his tender, young age plus he has almost always had something of a crush on the much older Ctarl Ctarl. "So Jim," Suzuka addresses him. "Are you as eager to find out about what Fred Luo has stolen back from Earth?" "Stolen?" Jim retorts in shock. "Yes, stolen." Suzuka replies somewhat calmly yet suspiciously. "No offense Suzuka, but you act like you know more about this little project than you let on." Jim says a little unsteadily. "Lets just say I have premonitions about some of Mr. Luo's business transactions." Suzuka replies. "Aw Come on, Suzie. Forget it!" Aisha groans. "Who cares what Freddie boy brought back with him from Earth? We're each getting two million wong." "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me Suzie, Aisha?" Suzuka ask somewhat irritated. "Seriously, you need to stop worrying about Fred business deal and think about the money instead." Aisha said slyly. The limos begin to move as the drivers

make their way out of the main parking lot onto a back entrance into the business complex. They go down three blocks and make a right where they face a massive stadium type structure. It was a museum owned by the Luo family. "I'm truly pleased that you and your friends could be a part of this momentous occasion, Gene." Fred exclaims with anxiety in his voice. "Think nothing of it, Fred." Gene replies. "It's always good doing business with you." "What is it that we're suppose to be guarding, Fred?" Melfina enquired. "You remember telling you and Jim about my family's expedition to a region on Earth known as Siberia?" Fred asked with exhilaration in his speech. "Well, I hate to spoil a surprise, but you and your friends are about to find out in the next twenty minutes!"

The two, black limos drive up to a garage door which is going up enough for the drivers to pull up inside and park as the garage door goes back down. "Well, time to get out!" Aisha chimes in, but no sooner had she touched the door handle, a voice from the speakers inside the limo startled her greatly. "No, You can get out yet, miss!" It was their driver addressing them. "Damn it! You startled me, Fritz!" Aisha whined. "The name's Royce, miss." The driver replied. "Whatever!" She grumbled back. Gene and Melfina were sitting in almost total darkness except for the overhead lights in their cab. "Isn't this romantic?" Fred asked. "Why yes it is!" Melfina replied, still naïve about what Fred really meant. "Don't encourage him, Melfina!" Gene pleaded. "I was just joking, Gene." Fred replied somewhat amused.

There was a sudden jolt on the floor beneath the two cars. "Hey, I think we're on some sort of elevator." Melfina said. "Yes, we're going three stories down." Fred replied. "We need to get you good folks some warm, protective clothing as well." "Protective clothing?" Gene retorted. "You mean this find of yours had to be put on ice?" "Everything will be explained to you and your colleagues once you feasted eyes on my little surprise." Fred swears to Jim, getting a little frustrated with Gene's impatience. The elevator finally reached the bottom, three stories below the parking facilities. When the elevator finally comes to a complete stop, Aisha says, "Now we can get out!" "Not so fast ma'am!" Royce shouts over the intercom. "AAAAAH! DAMN IT ROYCE!" Aisha screams. "WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT?!" "You're all supposed to wait until we hold the doors open for you, Miss Clan Clan." Royce answers back.

They wait for just a few more moments, then Fritz and Royce open the doors and escort the five crewmembers out. "You can wake up, Miss Clan Clan." Royce says. Aisha was put to sleep by the very boredom of having to wait. "Are we there yet?" Aisha yawns. "We're here ma'am." Royce replies. "Please hurry up and get out." "Gene, bring your friends and come this way." Requests Fred. They follow Fred up half a flight of stairs and through a sliding metal door. "This is the lounge area for this level. You have two

changing rooms, one for the ladies and one for us gentlemen. Plus there is a pantry with enough food for ten Ctarl Ctarls." "I'M THERE ALREADY!" Aisha yells with much enthusiasm. "Can't you wait until after we've seen Fred's great find?" Suzuka asks, becoming very frustrated. Aisha looks at Suzuka longing like a half starved little waif. "Suzuka's right." Gene adds. "I'm very glad that you all feel that way." Fred replies with much anticipation. "We need to get ready now."

They all go into the dressing rooms and change into heavy fur parkas covering insulated overalls and wearing heavy boots and gloves. They follow Fred through another door in the back and through a heavy freezer door into a huge room the size of a high school gym. They start making their way down five flights of lightweight stairs forged from titanium in a grill like pattern. The huge, almost empty chamber was dimly lit. "Man, it's cold!" Gene complained. "Yeah, and it's really creepy!" Jim answered back. "Move on, you two." Suzuka grumbled. "Have you forgotten what the dead of winter is like?" "Yeah you two, just cool it!" Aisha teased. Gilliam popped his pink head up out of Jim's pocket and said, "Jim, I don't think prolonged exposure to these extreme temperatures are too beneficiary on my circuitry! Please bundle me up!" Jim stuffed the pink Gilliam back down into the inside of his parka and moved on. They followed Fred up to the end of the huge facility where a huge, metallic platform stood before them. On the platform was a huge, red curtain hiding only God knows what. The suspense was aggravating to no end.

"Well, here we are folks, for the moment you've all been waiting for." Fred exclaimed with such pride mixed with intensity. "Dave, please raise the curtain for my friends to see what we've brought back from Earth." Immediately a tall man in a black suit and tie wearing heavy dark shades underneath an extra large hooded parka pressed a red button at the lower end of the platform and the curtain rose up until it was completely out of view. They looked with astonishment and a sense of uneasiness that had been creeping in ever since they stepped foot inside the huge, deep freeze facility. "NO WAY!" Jim yelled. "What the hell?" Gene followed up. "What the hell is that thing?" Aisha enquired nervously. "NOT WHAT. WHO?" Suzuka replied very sternly. "I had a bad feeling about this the whole time even before we came here today." "Aw C'mon, Suzuka!" Fred whined. "It's not like he's still alive. In fact he's been in this state for approximately two hundred Earth years and no one can survive frozen for that amount of time!"

Melfina started toward the upper end of the platform and went up the steps so as to get a closer look as frozen man from Earth two centuries prior. She stood with her face up close to the heavy, glass wall, which imprisoned the lifeless, huge frame of a man. She looked up into his sad, solitary face as tears start to form in her own eyes. "Why would someone do this?" She asked herself on the verge of weeping. "Excuse me, Melfina!" Fred rudely interrupted her. "But could you please tell us just what in the hell you're doing?" "I merely wanted to have a closer look at him that's all." She replied somewhat upset at the way he asked the question. "Melfina, get down from there!" Gene yelled. "I'm sorry." She replied with tears in her eyes and then she bolted for the five flights of stairs that led back to the lounge. "MEL! WHAT'S WRONG?!" Jim yelled. "It's probably the shock of seeing a frozen corpse." Gene replied. "Or something else." Suzuka retorted. "I'm going after her." "So, this poor gentleman was made into a big, blue Popsicle." Aisha comments. "Makes me wonder what he did to deserve getting put on ice." "He wasn't a criminal, Aisha." Fred replies. "He was a test subject for an old super soldier project they were working on back then." "WHOA!" Jim cries out. "Some of those experiments used DNA taken from dead alien bodies! This is really twisted, Gene!" "Calm down, Jim!" Gene pleaded with his young partner. "Remember the two million wong per person?"

"What is going on up there?!" Gilliam shouted under a muffled voice. "It's nothing, Gilliam. I'll fill you in on the situation later." Jim replied. "Oh bother." Gilliam moaned. "Gene," Fred pleaded." "If Melfina and Suzuka are having second thoughts about the position I've offered them, this find is just too important for me to give up on!" "WE'LL TAKE IT!" Aisha yelled greedily. "NOT SO FAST." Gene interrupted. "We need to talk this over with Mel and Suzuka and we also want to know what you plan to do with Prince Charming supposing you decide to thaw him out." Fred's face was flushed with redness. He didn't know what to say and he couldn't believe it was Gene who was confronting him about the big, blue man in the ice. "His body will be sold to the highest bidder." Fred said, beads of sweat forming across his forehead. "Who would bid for a dead, blue stiffy?" Aisha asked in a slightly clueless fashion. "The space forces, pirates, outlaws, maybe your precious Ctarl Ctarl Empire, Aisha." Gene answered back very pessimistic. "HEY WATCH YOUR MOUTH GENE STARWIND WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CTARL CTARL…HUH?! Uh-Oh…come to think of it, they might just do it."

"They'll dissect this poor chap and use his DNA to make super soldiers." Gene says a little more nauseated now. "Who else knew about this, Freddie Boy?" Gene asked Fred, getting very uptight. "TELL ME! Who else knows?" Fred held his head low and said, "The space forces and the Ctarl Ctarl Empire." Aisha got up in Fred's face and growled like a tiger ready to pounce and kill its prey. "Then you should hand ole blue boy over to me." She said in a low angry tone. "AISHA!" Gene and Jim shouted angrily. "Don't worry you guys. You'll each get ten times what skin flint's offering you in the name of the Ctarl Ctarl Empire." She promised. "We need to talk." Gene replied. Both he and Jim took Aisha by the arms and led her back up the stairs and into the lounge where Melfina and Suzuka were. Melfina was seriously shaken up, almost hysterical.

"What's wrong, Melfina?" Aisha asked with genuine concern for her friend. "Not

dead…HE'S NOT DEAD!" Melfina screamed. Everyone was shocked to hear her say this. "Melfina, what are you talking about?" Gene asked, his nerves were on edge. "Fred Luo is planning to sell him to some evil men who will kill him, cut him up, and then use his parts to make living weapons of mass destruction." She replied in tears. "C'mon, Mel, how could he still be alive?" Jim asked her. "I'm different so I know, Gene!" Melfina retorted back. An eerie silence fell over the room from which none could escape.

CHAPTER TWO: THE BIG THAW OUT

The silence reigned down over the lounge until it was dispelled by the loud crash of a

slamming door. It was Fred coming back inside from the cold chamber. Everyone looked at him. "Fred, are you alright?" Gene asked him. "I feel sick, Gene." Fred replied in horror and disgust. "Tomorrow is the big day. Representatives from the Ctarl Ctarl Empire along with the high commands of various, different space forces are to be here tomorrow at noon to bid on the specimen. There's nothing I can do. It's out of the question." "Aw c'mon, Fred!" Jim yelled. "What if Melfina's right? That would make you an accomplice to murder by handing it-him over to the highest bidder!"

"We don't know that he's still alive, Jim." Suzuka replies. "Yeah, well there is a way to find out." Jim said. "We thaw him out now." "That cold chamber, is that the same on he was in when your people found him?" Gene enquired. "Yes. Everything's the same." Answered Fred. "We took every painstaking caution of removing the entire cryogenic unit with him in it without thawing him out." "So he may be alive yet!" Aisha cuts in. "Maybe the Ctarl Ctarl can recruit him into service for the empire!" "FORGET IT, AISHA!" Gene yells. "It's like Suzuka says, we don't know if he's still alive or what."

"I don't think ole blue boy wants to part of anyone's forces right now." Gene stated. "Why can't you just leave him alone, catgirl?" Aisha pouts. She can't stand hearing that she's wrong. "Yeah, and I suppose he'd really love being a new chamber maid for Starwind and Hawking Enterprises!" Aisha beams.

"Shut up, Aisha!" Gene bellows. "YOU SHUT UP!" Aisha blares back. "Hey where's

Melfina?" Fred asks sounding very concerned. "Gene, WHERE IS SHE?!" They looked around for her. Suzuka just came out of the ladies room. "Why is everyone staring at me?" she asked. "Suzuka, did you see Melfina in the bathroom?" Fred asked, sounding somewhat panic stricken. "PLEASE SAY YES!" "She's not in the bathroom." Suzuka replies. "Well, maybe she went back to the limos." Aisha suggested. "She seemed awfully moody discussing sleeping beauty on ice." "I'll go check the garage and the limos." Jim said. "She couldn't have got very far in this place.

Jim runs out the door to the lounge. "Hey Jim, what's going on out there?" Gilliam asked.

as he was bouncing around in Jim's jacket pocket. "Melfina's missing…again!" Jim replied. "Oh no!" Cries Gilliam. "I hope that she's not in any trouble!" "She thinks that dude in the block of ice is still alive." Jim said. "I hope she isn't thinking about doing anything stupid!" "That would be most unfortunate." Replied Gilliam. Jim looks around the limos but he can't get in. Both of the cars are locked up tight. "MELFINA!" Jim hollers out. "Damnit, girl. Where the hell are you?" "No sign of her, Jim?" Gilliam enquires. "Hell no, and I bet I know where she's at this very moment." Jim grumbles out. "Oh dear." Gilliam frets. "This is terrible, Jim…terrible…quite disturbing indeed!"

Jim heads back into the lounge where the others are waiting. "Did you see any sign of her?" Fred asks. "No." Jim replies. "There's only one other place she could have gone and she aint got enough guts to go back that way!" Aisha yells. They slowly turn to the back door. "NOOOOOOOO!" Fred screams. He bolts through the back door and the heavy, walk in freezer door. Gene, Jim, Aisha, and Suzuka follow him. "FRED, WAIT UP!" Gene shouted. They were half way to the bottom when they saw Dave carrying a kicking, hysterical Melfina back up the stairs. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! GENE!" She cried out. "Put her down, gargantuan!" Gene yelled. Dave handed a half faint Melfina back over to Gene. "We've got some good news and some bad news." The tall bodyguard said. "She knocked two of our men out." "WHAT?!" Gene and Jim cried out. "NO WAY!" Jim followed up. "Yes, she used karate or jujitsu on two of our men." Dave went on. "That frail thing?" Fred said in astonishment. "What's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that the old cryogenic systems are failing." Dave replied. "I hope you're satified, Melfina!" Fred scolded. "It wasn't her doing, Mr. Luo." Dave said in Melfina's defense. "I mean the systems are all but completely exhausted. Our man could defrost in the next twelve hours." "Oh no, what am I going to do?" Fred fretted. "Hey Mel, where did you learn how to fight?" Gene asked, his ego somewhat bruised. "Suzuka taught me what I know." Melfina replied exhausted and still a bit shaky. "Do you have a problem with a woman learning how to fight back, Gene?" Suzuka taunted. Gene blushed red from embarrassment and irritation on Suzuka's part.

"Fred, what are you gonna do?" Gene asked. "As far as Sleeping Beauty is concerned, you business ventures on Earth has been a total disaster." "I'm canceling the auctions." Fred replied. "He was the least of our worries now that the Luo family has new business contracts with the merchant federations on Earth. I'll just have to make up some kind of excuse." "Well, I'm glad that you're finally coming to your senses." Gene encouraged him. "You don't have to worry about me weaseling out of our agreement." Fred promised. "And if there's anything that the Luo family is not, it's trafficking live human parts, PROVIDING MELFINA'S ASSUMPTIONS ARE CORRECT."

"Thankyou, Fred." Melfina replied upon hearing the news. "And I promise you my assumptions are correct." "WHAT?! YOU MEAN WE'RE STILL GETTING PAID TWO MILLION WONG EACH?!" Aisha shrilled. "Don't push it, lady." Fred said in a low, angry voice. "I'm in a real foul mood." At that moment two of the men that Melfina had rendered unconscious walked through the back door. "OH! I'm sorry for what I did to you both!" Melfina cried. "Think nothing of it, ma'am." One of them said. "I've felt worse." The two men walk out the lounge door and head down the corridor to the infirmary. Melfina is relieved that they are both alright. "So, what's my cut, Jim?" Gilliam asked somewhat annoyingly. Jim just pushes Gilliam's pink head back down into his pocket. "Oh, why do I even bother with these people?" Gilliam asks himself in frustration

Dave returns to the lounge from the large, frozen compartment, leads Fred by the arm toward the back, and whispers to him in a low voice. The others look on in deep concern. "Alright, what the hell are those two talking about?" Aisha grumbles. "It's not like we have all night and I wanna get paid!" "Would you just calm down, Aisha?" Suzuka replies, very irritated by Aisha's lack of patience. "We're not leaving until we do get paid. You know how this goes." Fred walks back into the lounge with a more somber feel to himself. "The cryogenic systems are dead." He stated firmly. "There's also a thawing-heating sequence that was activated once the generators failed."

"Fred, is there anything we can do?" Gene asked. "WHAT?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, GENE STARWIND?!" Aisha screams. "I don't wanna be around to see some dead guy rise from the dead!" "He's not dead, Aisha." Jim retorts. "He's in suspended animation. Don't you get it yet?" Fred throws an old, heavy folder down on the coffee table in front of his friends. "Here. It has all the information in it on Kyle Stuart. Read it and weep." He says in despair and frustration. "Dave just found it only a few minutes ago in a small compartment built in the back main control panel."

Jim was the first one to the envelope. He opened it up and pulled out a notebook with writing and sketches inside. As he read on, his eyes got as big as saucers. "What…What…WHAT?!" Aisha demanded. "This guy thawing out into our world was a corporal in the United States Army… back on Earth… almost exactly two hundred years ago!" Jim said in a very grave manner. He continued to read the notes and documents to himself for the next several minutes. Gene gets up off the sofa and heads to the men's room. He knew Fred was in there so he went in to see if he was alright. "Fred, are you gonna be alright?" Gene asked genuinely concerned about Fred's well being. "What the hell do you think?" Fred asked back. "I called for backup just in case our Mr. Kyle Stuart should decide to go bonkers."

Melfina has been permitted once again to visit the frozen man now known as Kyle Stuart, only this time Dave has accompanied her down to where the cryogenic chamber is located. "Thankyou Dave for going through all this trouble for me despite the trouble I've caused." Melfina said. "No problem at all, ma'am." Dave replied. "I'd say this makes us even." They approach the chamber. The body has completely thawed out. "I don't think you should get any closer, Miss Melfina." Dave said with mounting fear in his voice. Inside the chamber it was dark and frigid like the bottom of an ocean beneath a polar ice cap. Kyle Stuart was had thawed and was now breaking out in cold, profuse sweats as he was drifting toward consciousness.

Dave gets a walkie talkie out of the inside front pocket of his jacket, holds it up to his mouth and says "Mr Luo, we've got problems...BIG PROBLEMS. The generators have failed and the body is almost completely thawed out." "GET MELFINA OUT OF THERE NOW, DAVE!" Fred yells. "She has no business being in there anymore. It could be dangerous." "Understood, Mr. Luo." Dave replied. "Come on, miss. There's nothing we can do here." He motions to Melfina. "But he needs help." Melfina cries. "Isn't there anything you people can do for him?" "Not at the moment I'm sorry to say." Dave answers back. The two of them head back up the stairs, through the freezer door into the lounge.

"Melfina, are you okay?" Aisha asked. "You've got us all worried, girl." "I'll be fine." Melfina replies. She then looks toward Fred and says with a sad smile on her face. "You're not going to let them have him, are you Mr. Luo?" "Melfina, you don't have to be formal with me." Fred replies gently, smiling down at her with his hands on her arms. "There's got to be a way of resolving all this." He adds. "If I can just get the representatives of the Ctarl Ctarl Empire and the space forces to see that he's still alive and that he's a living being, they might decided to cooperate somewhat more ethically." "Yeah, well you're gonna need a bigger plan than what you have, Fred!" Gene scowls. "Tomorrow afternoon they're all gonna be here, right?"

Back down in the huge, frozen space, there were four men including dave brandishing heavy duty stun guns, expecting the inevitable. The doors to pod holding Kyle Stuart's body unlocked and opened up, moving off to the opposite sides of the container. There he lay, cold sweat profusely running down his entire body. He was almost completely naked except for some special, short trousers put on him during a two hundred year old experiment. Inside of his body he could hear his heartbeat kick in and then he gasped in his first breath in two hundred years. His chest, shoulders, and upper back heaved up as he took in his first desperate, gasping breath. His eyes opened and began to focus all over the new world around him. He was frightened and disoriented about his new, unfamiliar surroundings. "This aint Hell. It's too damn cold." He uttered to himself.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I?!" Kyle shouted. He noticed the huge, dim lit room before him and before him still, four of Fred Luo's handymen. "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" Kyle demanded to know. "WHAT AM I DOING HERE, WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO TO ME?!" Royce and Fritz were the two in charge. They were in a state of shock and dismay. "We mean you no harm sir!" Royce pleaded. "Please, just stay calm!" Kyle then noticed that he was strapped down to the gurney that he was resting on, the same one that "they", the scientists back on Earth two hundred years ago, used to hold him steady so they could more easily their diabolical experiments on him. "You assholes are asking me to be calm?" Kyle laughs in a state of sarcasm and despair. "YOU BASTARDS DESTROYED ME...LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

With a sudden burst of rage, Kyle flexes his arms outward, breaking the straps that held him. He then proceeds to rip the straps off which held his legs in place. He then gets up off the gurney and smashes the doors to the containment pod out of his way. "Mr. Luo, we need some more backup-PRONTO!" Royce shouts into his walkie talkie. "He's just busted out of the containment pod as if it were nothing. He's stepping out on the platform!" Fritz, Royce, and the two other men that were with them stood their ground, their guns pointed at the big, blue, metallic man. "HALT OR WE'LL FIRE!" Fritz shouted at the top of his lungs. Fritz was a huge man. He was a bouncer as well as a bodyguard with extensive military training prior to his employment with Fred Luo. He's not the kind of guys who scares easily or even at all when it comes down to it. This time however, it was a different ballgame. There was mounting panic in his voice when he ordered Kyle to halt.

"Something's going on down there!" Aisha exclaimed. "LETS GO!" "Gene you've gotta help me!" Fred pleaded. "I'm afraid he's gonna go beserk on my men!" "Lucky for you I brought a number three castor shell with me." Gene boasted. "Aisha, Suzuka, come with me, Jim, you stay with Melfina!" The four of them dashed through the freezer door and went down into the huge freezer room but Fred stopped on the third flight down. Suzuka noticed this just as she reached the bottom floor. She looked back at Fred and said, "You really are a coward aren't you, Fred? I don't blame you one bit. You wouldn't last five seconds with that creature you brought back." She then caught up with Gene and Aisha. "Mr. Stuart, if you refuse to stand down, we will open fire!" Royce warns. Kyle looked down on them with a mixture of amusement and contempt. "Go ahead. Shoot me." Kyle replied. "I sincerely doubt your firepower will dent my genetically altered flesh much anyhow." He then stepped forward. "NO! DON'T SHOOT" Gene shouted. "YEAH, WE'RE GETTING TWO MILLION WONG A PIECE FOR GUARDING HIS CARCASS!" Aisha retorted.

"So that's all I am to you guys, huh? A DAMN BOUNTY!" Kyle swears as he starts toward them. All four of Fred's men open fire, emptying everything they have in their guns on the big, blue man. "AAAAH" Kyle yelped in both suprise and in shock that the bullets really did bounce back off, riccocheting all over the huge, empty room. Kyle stumble back but then lunged forward off the platform landing right next to both Royce and Fritz. The two men try to tackle him but he was too strong and too fast. He grabbed both men by their jacket collars and hurls them right into Gene, Aisha, and Suzuka. The other two men ran up behind him but he turned around, staring them dead in the eyes. They stopped dead in their tracks and backed away slowly. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Aisha Clan Clan, in a warlike frenzy and unleashing that infamous Ctarl Ctarl battle cry, grabbed Kyle in a rear bearhug and threw him fifteen meters back over her shoulders into the containment pod, smashing all the equipment as it all collapsed down on Kyle.

"AISHA, STOP IT NOW!" Suzuka yells angrilly, leaping up onto the metal platform to prevent her from getting any closer to her quarry. "Aisha, what in the hell are you doing?" Gene asked her. "Just calm down, Aisha, alright?" Suzuka pleaded, her mystic, wooden sword halfway unsheathed. "Aisha, do you wanna loose your share of the money? Is that it?" Gene asked completely frustrated with his colleague's lack of self control. All at once a loud crash accompanied by several thousand pounds of flying debris filled the cold air. Kyle had emerged from Aisha's brutal onslaught, now he was enraged as blue, energy plasma pulsed through his skin, his eyes glowing. Aisha, having noticed Suzuka's distraction by the meelee, brushed right passed her and attempted to pounce Kyle once more. She lunged for him but this time Kyle caught her in mid air, his hand clasped tightly around her throat. "Oh no." Aisha wimpered. Kyle pulls her face down to where it's facing his. She was now forced to look into the heavy blue face contorted with dark, impending fury. She noticed something else; tear filled eyes knowing nothing but sheer and utter despair.

"Hey...hey, can't we talk this over?" Aisha asked him, waiting now for what she thought was the inevitable. An angry smile came across Kyle's face. "I tought I taw a putty tat." Kyle mocked, mimicking an ancient pop culture icon of his day. He then raises her up and then drives her through the metal platform and into the concrete floor below. He looks up at Gene, Suzuka, and several of Fred Luo's men and in a triumphant yet frustrated boast exclaims, "I DID! I DID! I DID TAW A PUTTY TAT!" At that moment Aisha flies up out of the platform and lands on Kyle's back, digging her claws and fangs into the back of his neck. He yelps in agony, quite suprised that her teeth and claws were much more effective than the ammunition. "DAMN, GIRL!" Kyle cries out in pain. "Are you teeth and claws made out of titanium?" "No." Aisha replies. "But they're more than enough to deal with the like of you!" Aisha then attempts to knock in out with a Ctarl style sleeperhold. She manages to get Kyle to go down to his knees as she continues to apply pressure.

It was all Kyle could do to stay conscious as everyone else looked on in terror and disbelief. "AISHA! YOU MUST NOT HURT HIM!" Suzuka demanded of her. Just when Kyle had done all but pass out, his head perks up as he stares ahead, his eyes were full of blue fire, blazing. A sudden, violent jolt of energy bolts circulate through his upper torso, sending Aisha flying backwards, screaming in pain. He stands up and makes his way toward the lower end of the platform where Suzuka met him, brandishing her mysterious, wooden sword. "Don't make us hurt you, stranger." She warns him. "It doesn't have to end like this." "Lady, let me tell you something about myself." Kyle said. "When I refused to gun down a family of sixteen or so people, they didn't execute me for treason like I hoped they would. Instead they take me to thing secluded bunker hidden in some mountains and do crazy experiments on me using DNA taken from extraterrestials. When the war ends, they put me on ice for God knows how long because they thought I was some sort of threat."

"I know." Suzuka replies. "We read the files that turned up in a secret compartment. I'm deeply sorry for all that you've been through." "Sugar, you don't know what sorry is until you've been in my shoes." Kyle retorted. "Don't call me sugar." Suzuka scowled. "In any case, I think you'd be glad to be alive." "Babe, you just don't GET IT!" Kyle lunged right at her. Suzuka saw the attack coming and sidesteps Kyle, striking with what would have been a fatal blow with her wooden sword across his side. He cries out in pain. Kyle is back down on one knee staring straight up at Suzuka, her sword drawn back for another blow. Then with a flip of his fingers from his right hand, Kyle issues a few, small energy bolts, knocking the sword from Suzuka's hands and knocking her flat on her rear. He then grabs the wooden sword and is about to break it when Aisha gets back into the fight. Kyle then gets up of the floor of the platform with Aisha trying to apply another sleeperhold and biting his left ear. "HOLD STILL YOU LOVEBIRDS!" Gene yells sarcastically while aiming his gun at the two of them. The barrel of his castor gun starts to rotate and light flash from within. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, GENE STARWIND?!" Aisha screams. "STOP! DON'T DO IT!" "NIGHTY NIGHT!" Gene shouts as he fires a number twelve castor shell right into Kyle's chest. There was a great explosion and a bright light. Both Aisha and Kyle lay on the floor unconscious.

Kyle woke up in an infirmiry the folowing morning. His bed was across the room from the window which now had the blinders completely pulled down. He was on a respiration but no IV was hooked up to him. "Well, I'm out of juice until I can get back in the sun." He thought to himself. "Am I back in America or am I still in Russia? How long have I been in the deep freeze? What the hell are they going to do with me?" These and other questions flooded his mind as he was dreading the worst. Little did he realize how far he had actually come and little did he realize how far he would actually go. "Oh, God, help me." He wept to himself. Just down the hall in another room Aisha was back on her feet and is completely well despite all the helter skelter from the night before. "Alright, I'm ready to check out of here!" She chirps. She goes outside her room, down the hallway, and into the lobby where the others are waiting for her.

"Hey, I'm sorry about last night, Aisha." Gene said. "I knew that the Ctarl Ctarls were indestructable and I couldn't risk Sleeping Beauty killing anyone." "That's alright, Gene." Aisha replied much to everyone's suprise. "Because I'm gonna kick your ass ALL OVER THE GALAXY THE NEXT TIME YOU PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT!" "Yep, same ole Aisha." Jim cuts in. "Some things never change." "I wonder how our new friend from yesteryear is making out?" Jim inquired. "I don't know, but I hope he's calmed down from last night's tussle." Gene replies. "YEAH, or I'm gonna open up another can of Ctarl whoop ass on him!" Aisha growls. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE, AISHA?" Melfina cries out, running up the hall away from the others. "You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you?" Suzuka replies. "She's right. Why don't you just leave him alone? He's beaten, he's isolated, and he's completely alone in this universe. Why do you hate him so much? What's he ever done to you?"

Aisha was shocked and dumfounded. She couldn't say anything in her own defense. Suzuka's words cut deeper than her mystic sword. All she could do was stand there with those words along with Melfina's ringing, echoing, and reacting through her mind. She was almost numb from the criticism and what's more, she knew her friends were right. Fred Luo went into the room where Kyle Stuart was confined. He saw that the strange man from Earth was conscious. "I'm sorry about what they did to you." He said. "You can relax, pal." Kyle replied. "Huh!" Fred cried out in suprise. "You're conscious? You can hear me?" "Sure. I've got nothing better to do." Kyle replies. "I'm just dying for someone to talk to." "Well, we'll talk as much as you like." Fred says with a great sigh of relief. "What do you wanna talk about?" "Where the hell am I?" Kyle asks in frustration. "In a private hospital adjacent to the office building you were carried out of last night." Fred answers. "You know you really could have hurt someone really bad." "I didn't mean to hurt anyone but your thugs were trying to kill me." Kyle retorted in calmed anger.

CHAPTER THREE: ON THE RUN

"Mr. Stuart, with all due respect, Luo Industries doesn't hire thugs and my friends are the very best at what they do." Fred darts back somewhat hurt. "Okay." Demands Kyle. "Now tell me exactly where the hell am I. Am I still in Russia or am I back home in Kentucky?" "Neither." Fred answers him. "In fact, and this will come as a shock to you, but you're not on Earth anymore." "WHAT?!" Cries Kyle. "YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! NOT ON EARTH ANYMORE?!" "That's exactly what I said, Mr. Stuart." Fred replies. "Okay then!" Kyle exclaims. "Do you mind telling me both where and when the hell I am?"

"To put it more bluntly, welcome to Sentinel Three, fifty light years from Earth, early twenty third century." Fred said. "You were thawed out almost to the exact, fateful day you were frozen in suspended animation. Hadn't it been for us, you'd still be back on Earth in a block of ice or worse yet, taken to a secret Earth lab and then disected." Kyle shuddered at the thought. He didn't know what the outcome for his newfound existence would be. "Well, I guess I owe you and your comrades my life." Kyle said remorsefully. "I didn't really wanna hurt noone but I just had to go beserk simply because I didn't know any better...DAMNIT." "I regret to tell you this but you're not excactly out of the woods quite yet." Fred replied.

Aisha Clan Clan sat there in the waiting room just down the hall from the infirmary. Her head was slumped down and her arms rested in her lap. "I want to tell him I'm sorry." She thinks to herself. "Yeah, but that would probably require pinning him to the floor just to get him to listen." "Hey Aisha." Jim called out to her. "The lounge is open. Aren't you hungry?" "No." She replies. "What? Are you kidding me?" Jim asks her somewhat suprised and a bit concerned. "I'm just not in the mood right now, Jim, okay?" Aisha retorts getting a bit annoyed by Jim's questions. "Alright then." He replies, and then somewhat hurt by what she said, he walks off. "I'm sorry, Jim." Aisha laments to herself. Over the past two years they've gotten to know each other, Aisha and Jim had become very close friends. It was as though they were family, kinda like big sister and little brother, or maybe there could have been more to it that that.

Jim was about to step into the elevator by himself when he saw Aisha running almost frantically towards her. "Now what's on her mind?" He asks himself a bit annoyed. "Hey Jim, I want you to promise me something." Aisha tells him catching her breath. "Sure. What is it?" Jim replies. "I want you to promise that we'll always be close friends no matter what happens." Aisha requested. Jim face flushed a crimson pink. He didn't know what to think except that he was deeply touched by her kind words. He looks at her and smiles. "You bet Aisha." He replies. "Friends forever." Aisha then picks the boy up and squeezes him tight against her bosom. His eyes were shut tight out of somewhat embarrassment. His face turned bright red at that moment. Aisha sets Jim back down on his feet. "You can go and pig out now, Jim." She reassures him. "I'll be along in a little while."

Back in the infirmary, Fred is still talking with Kyle. "It's not fair that you're still keeping me tied down like I was some sort of psychopath." Kyle complains. "I don't deserve this fate and I don't deserve to be thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire." "You might not be able to guarantee my safety if I do untie you." Fred replies. "Uh...huh...huh...huh...I have to go to the bathroom?" Kyle jokes. "Alright." Fred replies somewhat scared and reluctant. "Will you guarantee my friends' safety?" "I've got another idea." Kyle said thoughtfully. "Those jerks you were gonna auction me off to." "What about 'em?" Fred asks. "When do they arrive?" Kyle enquires. "They've already arrived." Fred replies. "In fact they're staying at the hotel here in Hugo." "Which one?" Kyle demands. "Let me guess." Fred said in a somewhat cocky fashion. "You're going to try and go over there and talk to them, appeal to their better nature. Am I right?" "I've gotta cute smile, Freddie boy." Kyle replies spitefully. "Why wouldn't they wanna listen to what I've got to say to them?" "We need to get you the hell outta here." Fred warned.

Aisha joined her friends in the lounge and, true to her Ctarl nature she ate the whole buffet up that was supposed to feed six people three times over. "I don't suppose anyone was wanting seconds or thirds." Gene scolded. "Not me." Jim replied. "No." Melfina replied. "I'm not really that hungry." Suzuka replied. "I'm on a diet." Aisha cut in. "Gotta watch my girlish figure." "Aw really!" Gene blurted out. "Well you could have fooled me." Melfina added, suprising everyone with a remark that just wasn't her. "I've been thinking about what you said, Suzuka." Aisha said. "About Kyle Stuart, I guess I wasn't playing fair with him." "Oh really? This is unusual behaviour for you, Aisha." Suzuka replied a little shocked. "I messed things up for him." Aisha said. "I guess we all did, Aisha." Gene added. "It wasn't just you."

A voice came in over the intercom. "Gene...Gene, get to the nearest intercom and respond at once." Fred requested. Gene went to ever to the closest intercom and pressed down on a black button in the control panel. "What do you want, Fred?" Gene asked. "We've got to get Kyle Stuart out of here NOW. I can't just allow either the Ctarl Empire or the space forces to get custody of him. THEY'LL DO TERRIBLE THINGS TO HIM!" "Alright Fred, just calm down." Gene replied. "Nothing's gonna happen to Mr. Stuart." "We're already in the basement of this building and we're going up through the garage elevator." Fred told him. "We'll meet you out back." Gene reassured Fred. "Exactly what time did they say they'd be here?" "AW GOD NO! It's eight forty five right now and they said they'd be here at nine o'clock!" Fred cries out. "Alright! Just hold it in, Fred. We'll think of something." Gene reassures him.

Aisha's ears suddenly twitch. "Uh, guys? I'm afraid it's already too late!" "What do you mean too late?" Suzuka enquires. "Ctarl Ctarl ears, the best hearing in the galaxy, remember?" Aisha replies somewhat nervously. "Are you sure you didn't inform your old bosses about Kyle?" Suzuka asks spitefully. "NO, I DIDN'T, DAMN YOU!" Aisha screams. Aisha was really infuriated this time. It took all the control she had no to trash the entire lounge and Suzuka along with it, who was about to draw her sword. "I didn't think that you would stoop that low, Aisha." Suzuka reassured her. Aisha's expression almost immediately changed to a much more docile one. "Meow?" She replied. "Yeah, well why did you turn into such a bitch a few moments ago?" "I was just testing you." Suzuka teased. "They're here aren't they, Aisha?" Jim asked. "Yes...they're here...and I can't make it up to him." Aisha replied almost on the verge of tears.

Fred and Kyle were sitting in one of the limos as the garage elevator was raising them up to ground level. "My friends and I will do everything in our power to make sure that you stay a free man, Mr. Stuart." Fred reassured him. "Thanks and don't call me mister. Just call me Kyle. There's no need to be so formal around me." Kyle replied. There was a gentle nudge to the limo as the elevator reached the top ground level. The mechanical door rolled up and the driver pulled out into the morning light to a horrible surprise. "SOLDIERS!" The driver shouted over the intercom. "NOW WHAT DO WE DO, SIR?!" "What do they look like, Max?" Fred enquired. "Sir, you may want to have a look at this." Fred pushed a button and rolled the window down. He gasped much to his horror as two alien beings that stood outside the window, alongside the rear of the limo.

There were two alien beings. One, was a saurian named Duuz. Duuz was a top commanding officer in the space force group known as Angel Links. He was a seven foot plus dinosaur man with green leathery skin. The other was the Imperial Governor of the Ctarl Ctarl Empire. He was less than six feet tall. "You weren't trying to pull a fast one on us, were you?" Enquired the big, imposing saurian. "No...no I wasn't, Commander Duuz." Fred replied somewhat nervously. "You looked like you were trying to make a quick getaway, boy!" Bellowed Duuz. "Did those Kei Pirates offer you a better deal?" "Sir, I assure you that we were...I mean I wasn't trying to auction the man off to a higher bidder." Fred tried to reassure him. "It's bad for business to go around behind a client's back."

"Just you remember that, Terran." The Imperial Governor warned. "You forfeit you life and your father's bussines if you try anything foolish. WHERE IS THE STRANGE MAN AT?!" Fred forced a huge lump in his throat down hard. It was plain to see that he was sweating scared. Sitting across from him, Kyle Stuart couldn't help but notice the predicament his newfound friend was in. "You don't have to stick your neck out on my account, Fred." Kyle said. "HUH?!" Fred thought out loud in his head. Kyle opens the door of the limo and gets out, standing up straight and tall. Duuz and the Ctarl governor both gasped in astonishment as the big, blue metalman stood before them in the sunlight, the light reflecting back off onto them. They had to squint their eyes for the bright reflecting sunlight.

"I'm not gonna let you take my friend's life or his father's business." Kyle said to the two leaders. "Here I am...come and take me." "Well that's mighty fine of you, Terran." Duuz replied boastfully. "That makes our job alot easier!" "He doesn't belong to the space forces as of yet, Duuz!" The imperial governor bellowed. "The auctions haven't been held yet either." It was obvious to Fred and Kyle that Duuz and the Ctarl Governor didn't like each other all too well. They were thrown together by the powers that be until the business transaction was at an end and only one of them would be returning to space with Kyle Stuart. "Where do you come from, stranger?" The Ctarl Governor asked. "From a planet called Earth, fifty light years away, and two hundred Earth years ago, sir" The Ctarl governor couldn't help but smile at the pleasent manners of the tall, blue man. "He shows respect and courtesy." He thought to himself. "It's too bad that we may have to exterminate him if the Empire comes to view him as a threat."

"Remember, Governor!" Duuz bellowed. "The auctions haven't started yet!" Duuz thought to himself. "If we find out what his powers and capabilities are, we may very well have an unbeatable super soldier working for Angel Links." Then something else crossed his mind. "If we can't have him noone else should-not even those high and mighty Ctals Ctarls!" On the top floor in the huge office building of Luo Enterprises, Gene Starwind and company look on in horror and disgust as Kyle Stuart hands himself over to the join control of Commander Duuz and the Ctarl Ctarl Imperial Governor. "We failed." Gene said in a low tone. "THIS IS TERRIBLE GENE!" Jim cries out. "WHAT THE HELL ARE WE GONNA DO NOW?!"

"I'll tell you what we're goin to do." A familiar voice speaks out. "We're going to bust him out." The five look around to see Valeria, second in command to Officer Duuz of Angel Links. "Hey babe." Gene calls out. "Did you miss me?" "Good to see you too, Gene Starwind." Valeria replies.


End file.
